Blastanus – Collapse

Blastanus…more a statement of intent than anything else. Like Dying Fetus or Aborted before them, electing to give your band such an obviously extreme name automatically brings a certain expectation to your music. You aren’t playing Collapse in anticipation of acoustic passages and uplifting sing along choruses, right?

Finland has a rich heritage of metal, and Blastanus can be proud of their contribution to it with this collection of brutal tracks. Wall to wall slam, frying politically charged vocals, & well placed guitar sweeps litter this album. The drums are (mercifully) real, and the truly awesomely-named Hammer Fredriksson is one sick drummer. Grinding when necessary, double bass rolling the ‘quiet’ sections then blastbeating the rest! A couple of obligatory samples emerge towards the end of the album and, oh yeah, they have a saxophonist.

Most extreme bands with quirky additions like to throw them in your face at every opportunity (such as Nile‘s ‘Egyptian’ samples), but blastanus barely utilise Jussi Huurre’s saxophone for the majority of the album. It’s standout moment occurring in the epic final track, the 7 minute, prog/jazz infused ‘Collapse’, and don’t let that description deter, it’s a fitting & fascinating album closer. In fact the under utilisation of their ‘fifth element’ prevents the saxophone becoming a novelty & allows it to be a welcome addition to the sonic onslaught when it does appear.

Track one is quite midpaced, and while brutal, left me completely unprepared for what was to follow. Reward Failure is where the album really takes off. Full aggression and some tech death lead work had me banging my head incessantly. And any band with a track called ‘HAMMERFIST’ deserves respect.

Being what it is, unashamed grinding death, Collapse won’t be to everyone’s taste. Blastanus proudly display their influences, and if you’ve ever given the likes of Origin, Cryptopsy, Cephalic Carnage or even Ephel Duath a try, you’ll enjoy this!

With the resurgence in unsigned death metal across Europe it wouldn’t be surprising to see a tight unit like Blastanus on future festival and tour bookings, and if they keep to this level of intensity, I’ll certainly be watching them.